Day 1a of the PokerStars UKIPT Blackpool Main Event, running at The Sandcastle Grosvenor Casino, has now concluded. A total of 80 entries were made to the flight. Of those, 12 players made it through to Day 2 and into the money.
PokerStars Team Pro player Sam Grafton finished the flight as the chip leader with 342,000. Grafton was close to busting early on before accumulating a large stack midway through the day and building from there. He also eliminated Feridun Genyman on the bubble to wrap up the day.
Dale Hancock finished the day in second place with 269,000 chips. Hancock got his big break earlier in the year when he won ￡60,000 at the WPT at Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham. Hancock will be well positioned for a run at his next major cash come Day 2.
In third place, and not far behind Hancock was Jessica Pilkington with 249,500 chips. Pilkington is a regular on the circuit with $322,539 in recorded live tournament earnings.
Steven Mckeown and Ali Zia round out the top five. Two PokerStars qualifiers, Joshua Musson and Bradley King, also made it through to Day 2.
End of Day 1a Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samuel Grafton | UK | 342,000 |
| 2 | Dale Hancock | UK | 269,000 |
| 3 | Jessica Pilkington | UK | 249,500 |
| 4 | Steven McKeown | UK | 238,500 |
| 5 | Ali Zia | UK | 219,500 |
| 6 | Bradley Rawson | UK | 205,500 |
| 7 | Beihao Wang | China | 195,000 |
| 8 | Joshua Musson | UK | 173,000 |
| 9 | Bradley King | UK | 173,000 |
| 10 | John Farrell | Ireland | 129,000 |
| 11 | Neil May | UK | 116,000 |
| 12 | Maz Bako | UK | 91,000 |
At the end of Day 1a, the prize pool in the UKIPT Blackpool Main Event stands at ￡89,240.
The Main Event will continue with Day 1b, the second of three starting flights, which commences Friday at 12 p.m. local time. Day 1c will also be running later on, starting at 6 p.m. local time.
PokerNews will be bringing you live updates of Day 1b straight from the tournament floor.
